The FCC earlier this week disclosed photos of the Samsung M250, which we initially revealed the previous week. Rather than running with photos and speculation immediately, we have waited to give you the most-reliable information on the device possible. As the pictures clearly show, the slider-and-flip form-factor of the device is new to the United States, however as we previously reported, Samsung will use the new form to replace the MM-800’s slider format as their most expensive form-factor.

However, many media reports have speculated out of control as to many features on the device. While the device does not have A2DP currently, this is in-line with all other music-aimed phones on the market, as well as dedicated PMPs such as the iPod. This is both in-part to the infancy of A2DP devices, and inherent flaws in the platform that continue to drive audiophiles (the target consumer of A2DP) to use traditional headsets.

The M250 does support next-generation FOTA, and some have rumored that the M250 and other phones can be updated to support A2DP, provided FOTA ensures the entire customer base will be prompted to update. Such FOTA advances will operate similar to Automatic Updating on Mac OS X, by downloading firmware updates and then prompting the user to opt-in on the installation.

Clearly however, the M250 is aimed at being Samsung’s most powerful music and multimedia offering.

The controversy with the device’s approval lies in what the device actually does. The physical photos indicate that the device is CDMA 800/1900 and operates an IP TV receiver as well. However, the FCC reports show that the device was only submitted, and approved, for transceivers at 1900 MHz PCS and Bluetooth at 2.4 GHz. PCS Intel then began a line-by-line investigation of the mountains of pages of documentation.

The identifiers on the device state “digital triband”. However, the device’s approval documents state “digital singleband” (we will not post photographs of this for security reasons). The reasoning for this is change (if the device remains in its current form) appears to be tri-fold. First, the 2.5 GHz TV offerings, if they will appear in this device, are passive (forward link, or receive only). Thus, Sprint has likely re-defined it to not actually be a “band”. As to 800 MHz CDMA, Samsung may have dropped it to cut costs, following a recent internal Sprint decision to continue promoting and purchasing single-band devices. Like the A990 on Verizon, this device will set new records for retail price of a non-smart device.

We will follow up on what platform Sprint has selected for IP TV in the very near future.
Read more to view high-quality photos of the M250, and the Korean version of the M250, the Samsung B250.